Fight to the End
by amgk
Summary: In which Axel returns to Roxas, Ansem gets stabbed in the back and chaos ensues. Plummeted into a strange new world, how will our favourite nobodies fare when they are faced with a seemingly supernatural foe? Only time will tell.
1. Chapter 1

Axel slumped against the wall of the concrete building, the torrential rain seeping through the fabric of his already sodden cloak. As his friend's footsteps faded from his hearing, he stared into the heavens; an iron curtain of steely grey cloud blanketed the celestial expanse, hundreds of litres of water pouring to the ground with every passing second. Lurid neon lamps obnoxiously glared from their perches on the walls of each building, their artificial glare reflected by the growing number of puddles found on the pavement and road.

The rain seemed to reflect his mood. When Axel had discovered that Roxas had crushed Saïx on deciding to leave the Organization, he knew that irreparable damage had been inflicted - after having worked with the blue haired man for an extended length of time, one came to fear his temper more than even that of Xemnas! He himself knew better than any other member that those who betrayed the sinister group never lived long enough to utter an apology.

However, he found such matters trivial in comparison to the event that had just taken place in front of his eyes - Roxas had not only abandoned the Organisation, but he had abandoned him. On hearing of Saïx's defeat, Axel had retired to his room in the castle to think - he did have a knack of running straight into things without planning ahead - but all such pretences were dropped when he spotted the envelope on the floor. As the 'WINNER' stick clattered to the ground after escaping his tightened grip, Axel - grown up, mature and responsible Axel - put his head in his hands and wept. Of all the time he had spent in the Organization, his times with Roxas and Xion had been the happiest; with Xion now gone forever, Roxas was all he had left. Storming off into the night, he now had just one thing set in his mind: Roxas may give up on him, but he would never give up on Roxas.

* * *

Riku knew he was a weak opposition from the start of the fight. As the hooded form of Roxas appeared at the foot of the skyscraper a rush of adrenaline had coursed through his arteries, consequently allowing him to fight his hardest - however, the presence of the hormone in his bloodstream was far from permanent, and as a result of this five minutes into the fight he began to feel fatigue clamping its iron jaws around his weary limbs. He likened the effect to running on ice - easy at first, but increasingly dangerous as you picked up the pace.

To his credit, Riku did hold his own for a long period of time. The furious onslaught from the hooded figure was relentless, and only the most experienced of warriors would have been able to exploit any weaknesses in his attack - Riku, however, soon came to find that his attacks were being deflected with ease, and any injuries he did inflict was simply nullified through Roxas' use of Cure magic. If he was to have any chance of leaving this battle victorious, he knew that something unexpected was required - and soon.

With this in mind, Riku saw what he thought to be an opening and sprinted at Roxas, his arm muscles tensed and ready to release his remaining energy in what he hoped to be the final swing of his keyblade. Leaping into the air, he grunted as he brought his keyblade forward in a wide arc over his head, his now sodden silver hair catching in the wind as the blade rushed towards Roxas' head at an alarming speed. For a fraction of a second, he thought he had succeeded - his opponent's keyblade was held in an attacking stance, with no hope of using it to block his imminent attack. However, just as his keyblade was a mere centimetre from striking a lethal blow, he felt his feet leave the ground as his whole body was lifted into the air by an unnatural vortex of convoluted air; a smirk on the blond teenager's face told him all he needed to know. A well timed Aeroga spell was all Roxas had needed to send Riku hurtling into the air, the latter's attack forgotten as his keyblade was wrenched out of his hand by the seemingly unrelenting gale.

As he fell to the floor, white hot pain seared through his limbs that impacted the tarmac at the foot of the skyscraper where their battle had begun. His keyblade followed suit with a metallic clatter. Energy drained from his body, Riku gave up. He had given his all in the fight, and could expend no further energy for the simple reason that he had none left. Inky blackness flooded his quickly fading vision, as his opponent's dark form loomed over his vulnerable form - with an unintelligible whisper, Riku promptly blacked out.

Roxas felt pretty satisfied with the result of this battle. Admittedly, he had resorted to using magic in order to claim victory (something he rarely liked to do), but nevertheless his defeat of the imposter - Riku, apparently - ranked highly amongst the outcomes of his previous battles. Since Xion had returned empty handed from her mission in the Beast's Castle just before his 150th day in the Organization, he had been partially dreading - but also anticipating - his inevitable battle with the man. Only back then, he never would have guessed that it would have taken place under such extreme circumstances - at that time, Saïx had sole control over the allocation of Roxas' daily missions. Now he could do anything he wanted, without anyone telling him what to do!

The thought was exhilarating - he could do practically anything! However, the glorious moment did not last for long. As with any positive thought, a negative thought soon reared its gruesome head at the back of his mind to challenge it: what would the Organization do in retaliation to his departure? After having served Xemnas for over a year, he was sure that such a man would never relinquish his iron grip on one of his lackeys that easily. One thing was for certain; he would never turn his back on his only keyblade wielder - of all people! Roxas, however, mused that his defeat of Riku put him in good stead for a battle with the majority of the Organization's members. Well, perhaps not Xaldin: since his early missions in Beast's Castle, he had always feared that man and his distinct lack of patience. As for Xigbar, the key to defeating him was to wear earphones while listening to Demyx's noisiest sitar music at full volume. Really; who in their right mind calls their opponents 'Tiger' and 'Poppet' while shooting to kill? The Organization's second in command, apparently.

Snapping back to reality, Roxas raised his weary head and surveyed the area - on arrival, he had been preoccupied with avenging the death of Xion and had consequently devoted no time to taking a look around. He made a mental note to take in the main features of a place before launching into battle in the future - perhaps there may be ice cream vendors in other areas to Twilight Town after all! As he looked around, he noticed Riku still lying on the floor - Oblivion, the keyblade that the older teenager had used in his fight against Roxas, laid a couple of metres away in a large puddle where it had fallen. Walking forwards and bending over to retrieve the dark metallic weapon, Roxas grasped its icy body in his right hand; summoning Oathkeeper in his left hand, he felt a rush of power surge through his arms as the keyblades were once again united by a common owner. However, the moment soon passed, and the teenager realised that he was now soaking from having stood in the rain for such a long period of time. He began walking towards the cover of the skyscraper, hoping to alleviate the shivers that now periodically racked his body, dismissing his dual keyblades with a bright flash of white light. Hopefully the dismissal of his keyblades would prevent rust, Roxas assured himself - what on earth would Axel say if he found out that his new battle strategy was to give his opponents a blood infection from a rusty keyblade? Looking on the bright side, it may scupper Xemnas' plan to complete Kingdom Hearts, as it would do him no good to have a diseased Kingdom Hearts to take over the Universe or for whatever other sinister plans he had in store for it.

Axel. He hadn't given a thought to that name since he left the man on the streets of this accursed city more than an hour ago. Admittedly, he had been fighting a psychopath with silver hair and a blindfold, but that was beside the point: the way he walked away from Axel before his battle was completely out of order. Why had he walked away from one of his only friends? He couldn't come to a logical conclusion. When Xion had faded from existence in his very arms, rage had filled his body, boiling with a furious flame towards those that had led her to her demise. Both the Organization and Riku the imposter had used her; forced her to transform into that hideous creature that turned on him with murderous intent. Wanting to inflict pain in return, he had found Riku at the skyscraper and engaged him in battle - which had appeased at least one half of his vendetta. However, Xemnas and his lackeys were still at large, and it may have been Axel's comment: "-they will destroy you!" that hit a nerve. After all, it implied that Roxas was powerless to stop the Organization, and Roxas hated nothing more than being in a vulnerable position.

Roxas was now under the cover of the skyscraper, and was glad for it. The rain had only got worse since his victory over Riku, and his cloak was already soaked through and heavy with the added weight. Looking out over the plaza, his defeated opponent's limp form lay still on the wet tarmac. Huh, why should he help a wretch like that? Lifting his head, he turned away to face the skyscraper, shielding himself from the ferocity of the storm.

Unseen by Roxas, darkness had begun to flow from Riku's body in thick choking swathes that flowed across the ground and dissipated in the torrential rain. A sudden gust of icy wind swept through the plaza, grossly oversized droplets of rain pummelling against the walls of the buildings with the wild, untamed force of nature. As the unconscious man's blindfold was ripped off his face by the vicious draught, a column of darkness erupted with the force of a small bomb from his back. Slowly, a monstrous figure coalesced from within the convoluted shadowy column, its oversized muscles bulging obscenely as two lethal horns forced their way from its skull. Finally, Riku opened his eyes. An orange glint briefly flickered in the man's now sickly amber pupils, and a nefarious smirk played across his lips.

Ansem was alive.

* * *

**A/N:** First things first, I hope you enjoyed this first instalment in what I plan to be a relatively long tale - feedback is greatly appreciated and will motivate me to write faster, so start mashing that review button now!

The next chapter is already out, and the third is almost written. It will be up soon!


	2. Chapter 2

The rain only seemed to worsen. Gargantuan droplets of water continued to plummet to the earth, exploding violently on contact with the ground, and a harsh wind cut through the plaza, permeating the cracks that crept across the face of the skyscraper that dominated the area. As another sharp gust of frozen air whipped across the plaza, a blinding white sheet of lightning threw the sky into a harsh negative glow. Quickly fading, the burst was followed by a series of weaker flashes, each giving the surroundings a disturbed, skeletal - almost artificial - appearance. The resulting thunder cracked the illusion, the deafening, untamed roar of nature announcing its presence through a display of sheer power and fury.

In his new form, Riku loved the rain. Why would people seek shelter when there was such fun to be had outside? In the rain, people became depressed; sadness replaced happiness as positive thoughts were washed from the mind. It made it so much easier to manipulate those with weak hearts; to create legions of heartless that heeded his every command. In fact, the rain was one of the contributing factors that the man - who now held Riku prisoner in his own mind - could thank for his return. Silly fool - releasing the darkness in himself in order to knock no more than a child unconscious. He would never be able fathom the mysteries of the foolish actions made by those with a heart, just as those of the light would never truly appreciate the raw power available to those who wielded the darkness. To think that the boy had actually believed he would retain his mind when exposed to the fury of the shadows...the window of opportunity whose appearance Ansem had been patiently awaiting had presented itself, and he had wasted no time in wrenching the boy from control of his own mind. A shame, really. He could have been such a great asset to his schemes had he stayed loyal to those who lived in the light, but he deemed such methods as required. Such a terrible waste of talent...

The whole Riku affair had been nothing short of torturous for Ansem. After having been locked away in the darkest recesses of the boy's heart for what seemed like an eternity, he had almost forgotten what it was like to breathe...although he was technically a Heartless, he had still suffered the nauseating effects of claustrophobia knawing at the edges of his mind while trapped in his shadowy prison. Unable to take action himself, he was forced to watch Riku's every movement, from holding conversation with an irritating mouse to being beaten by a pathetic teenager. However, now he felt so...alive. As his symbiote Heartless writhed behind him, emanating raw power and fury, he flexed the muscles of his body whilst admiring his newfound strength. What fun he was going to have with his new body; this wonderful fresh chance in life...

Speaking of that teenager - where had that arrogant wretch got to? Riku's memories told Ansem that the boy had walked off after defeating his opponent, but because Riku had blacked out he had no way of determining the boy's current location. Rubbing his temples in frustration, he cast his gaze around the plaza. Although the rain was still heavy, he was just able to make out a solitary figure standing alone on the steps that lay before the largest of the skyscrapers. A nefarious smirk crossed his lips; this was going to be much easier than he had originally expected...

* * *

Shivers wracked Roxas' frail body as water dripped periodically from his sodden hair. Why was it that his fight with Saïx, Xion's death and his most recent battle, that with Riku, had to coincide with the foulest weather imaginable? Now he had to decide what to do next. Where to go. Who to find. It was just his luck tha-

Footsteps. He froze. Who could it be? It couldn't be Riku - he had fallen with enough force to give even Lexaeus an impressive collection of broken bones. So who was the person advancing on him with every passing second? The steps were erratic, as if the owner was still learning how to effectively utilise their legs, but that was not the most worrying part: the sound created by each step was far too loud to have been created by any normal man.

As the footsteps slowed, a dark chuckle rang out across the plaza. Spinning on the spot, Roxas jumped back in surprise as a dark figure - no, two figures - loomed before him as he was forced to back up against the hard concrete wall of the skyscraper. The first figure was a tall, muscular man, clad in a black Organization cloak that flapped in the wind that swept through the area; dark skinned with pale silver hair and eyes with an orange lustre, he held an almost uncanny resemblance to Xemnas. A strong aura of authority surrounded him: it immediately became apparent to Roxas that this was not a person who you wanted as an enemy. Or even as a friend, for that matter.

However, this may have been partly due to the hulking monstrosity of a heartless that hovered behind the man's back. Seemingly connected to the shadows cast by his feet, its skin was an inky purple colour that absorbed light much like a black hole would absorb extraneous matter from the space that surrounded it. With a muscular torso wrapped with decaying bandages and glowing yellow eyes, it was the sort of creature that constituted the worst of nightmares: those that left you shudder and break out in a cold sweat.

Without warning, the Heartless raised one of its oversized fists, bringing it forward in a wide arc at a staggering speed. At the last minute, Roxas rolled to the left - however, the claws of the creature still passed millimetres from his right shoulder, shredding the leather of his cloak as if it were nothing but a paper bag. Now in a crouching position, he lunged forward in an attempt to hit the cloaked figure: thrusting Oblivion towards the man's chest, he let out a yell of surprise as his keyblade was intercepted by a monstrous hand that wrenched it from his grip. Sent stumbling forwards by the action, Roxas could only watch as the symbiote grasped the weapon in its hands and began to bend the metal body like a child would bend a spoon. He swore under his breath; this could not be good. The man just looked on with a sadistic smirk.

Suddenly, the creature let out a deafening roar that reverberated around the plaza. Jumping back with feline agility, Roxas raised Oathkeeper into a defensive stance, ready to block the next attack that it would inevitably throw his way. However, after a few seconds it became apparent that such an attack would not come - the monstrosity was shuddering and appeared to be crippled by pain. As for the source of the pain, Roxas was pretty certain that it was somehow related to the dark figure standing only metres from the creature's violently convulsing form.

As the beast collapsed, another burst of sheet lightning briefly illuminated the area; it was in this tiny space of time that he caught a glimpse of the figure's face...

But surely, that was not possible?


	3. Chapter 3

Piercing green eyes met Roxas' startled gaze. In the brief moments that his and Axel's eyes connected, a great deal of emotion was communicated between the two Nobodies. Sorrow, betrayal, anger... the air between them buzzed with this unseen energy, the tension exponentially increasing within this infinitesimally small fraction of time.

As the blinding white glare of the lightning vanished, the atmosphere fluctuated in nature once more. The rain continued to fall around them with a gentle pattering against the tarmac, but this was now the only noise that could be heard - for neither Roxas nor Axel knew what to say.

This eerie tranquillity was soon shattered by the tremendous roll of thunder that subsequently rumbled in the sky far above, causing the shorter of the two to flinch at the loud sound. Soon, however, the tranquillity returned - in lieu of the cacophonous rolls of thunder, the delicate pattering of rain was once again the only sound to be heard.

Roxas was the first to break the silence.

"Axel... You returned."

"What? Is that all I get for saving you from an ass-kicking from tall, dark and evil back there? You aren't one for compliments, Roxas," Axel replied smoothly. "Besides, that thing was just about ready to rip your head off - and it would have done just that if I hadn't shown up when I had!"

Still in shock, Roxas bowed his head to the floor. "I guess... Thanks."

"Hm, that's better! Right, I think you offer me an explanation or two - just how did you get yourself into this mess? You wandered off despite my best advice, and two days later you turn up here locked in combat with some monstrosity that wouldn't look out of place in the seventh circle of Hell!"

Roxas thought for a moment before replying - everything had happened so fast that he wasn't even sure that he could remember all the details. Eventually, he looked up and began to talk.

"I came here an hour ago - searching for someone I could punish for Xion's death. I guess I was pretty lucky, as the Organization imposter was already here. Things pretty much progressed from there..."

He paused for a second, recounting the fast-paced fight that he had engaged in not more than three quarters of an hour ago. He continued, "We fought and I won - he wasn't as strong as I expected. I rested, but the next thing I knew was an amber-eyed guy with a giant Heartless on his back was advancing on me. Things went downhill from there - he was way too strong for me to handle. But then you showed up."

Roxas looked up at Axel, awaiting a response from the taller Nobody.

Axel ran his hand through his hair, contemplating what had been said to him. Everything sounded logical, but the giant Heartless was something that he could not explain - where had it come from? Was it the man who Roxas had felled that had transformed into the creature, or could it have been someone - or something - else?

"Thanks for that, Roxas," Axel smiled at his friend. "I'm just glad that you seem relatively unscathed - that Heartless didn't expect my chakram to wind up in its back, that's for sure!"

Roxas grinned back. It seemed that the bad blood between them had been washed away in light of the recent chain of events.

"Axel..." Roxas began, "Does this mean we can have ice cream together again?"

He looked up apprehensively, awaiting a response from his friend.

Axel laughed, "Of course… Although I believe this is yours."

Holding out the 'WINNER' ice cream stick in one gloved hand, Axel grinned. Perhaps things were not going to turn out so badly after all?

What happened next was completely unexpected by both Axel and Roxas. With an ear-splitting yell, Axel dived out of the way as a massive fist swung at the ground he was standing on not more than a second previously. An explosion of debris showered the pair as they swivelled on the spot, their weapons primed and ready to strike whatever had almost flattened the older Nobody.

The dust cleared, but only just in time for the two to dodge a roiling sphere of inky darkness that ripped into the wall of the nearest building and exploded with a tremendous boom, ripping apart the concrete and steel like an angry child with a napkin.

Glancing upwards, Roxas caught a glimpse of the unknown aggressor - and his worst fears were confirmed as his identity became apparent. The piercing amber gaze of the man who had previously overpowered him bored into his skull, making him feel weak at the knees. Whoever this man was, he did not seem the type to give up easily - although Axel stabbing the symbiotic heartless in the back had caused them both to collapse, the sheer power of the attacks that the man and his heartless had just subjected them to suggested that he was not even shaken. Perhaps it had all been an elaborate ruse?

As the seconds flew by, the pair of Nobodies could not get an attack in edgeways. It seemed that the man was just toying with them, tossing them around with fast-paced attacks in the way a cat would toy with a mouse before going in for the kill. Not helping matters was the fact that Roxas only had one usable keyblade - since the symbiote had severely damaged Oblivion before Axel had intervened, he found that summoning it was no longer possible. Drat.

Soon the pair was becoming weary. The relentless onslaught was becoming too much to handle, causing both of them to slow down and lose the agility that had so far saved them from certain death - if they were going to put in some sort of final effort, now was the time to do it. With this in mind, Roxas leaped up into the air. Keyblade at the ready, he let out a yell and hurled the metal instrument towards the symbiote's head - this time, however, it did not intercept the blade as it had before. Time almost seemed to be drawn out as the glittering, metallic form of Oathkeeper sliced through the air between itself and the monstrosity, the polished chrome of its body whirling through the rain until it made contact with its head.

Crack.

Axel looked at Roxas, a look of pure shock etched upon his face.

Roxas jumped back, preempting an attack that would not come.

The amber-eyed man let out a terrible cry of anguish, the pain shared between the two linked entities as if they were one.

With that, the symbiote collapsed. The limbs of his symbiote began to dissipate, the resulting swathes of dark smog rushing over the ground towards the pair of Nobodies like venomous snakes stalking their prey. It blotted out the city lights, the moonlight and the light of the stars, a viscous violaceous mass imbued with evil intent.

As the final rays of light were snuffed out by the enormous tide of roiling purple gas, Roxas came to quite an important conclusion: that was _not_ a wise thing to do.

* * *

**A/N: **Well, that has been hanging around on my computer for ages. I stumbled across the file earlier today, so decided to upload it this evening in a revision break - good old exams! Kudos to anyone who picks up the IT Crowd reference in this chapter.

Remember to review if you have the time. I like to know where I can improve, although this story is a bit of fun.

I may be looking for a beta reader at some point too - PM me if you are interested.

Thanks for reading; the next instalment will be published in July! :)


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